


Day 1: fluff+at school

by readbetweenthelions



Series: Yakulev Week [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Love Letters, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-15
Updated: 2014-08-15
Packaged: 2018-02-13 07:06:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2141664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/readbetweenthelions/pseuds/readbetweenthelions





	Day 1: fluff+at school

It is Tuesday morning, and there is a small envelope on Yaku’s desk.

There’s no name on it besides Yaku’s own, written in big handwriting that’s trying hard to be neater than it usually is. Yaku in all honestly has no idea what this envelope is about. With a soft sigh he slips a finger under the flap of the envelope and tears it open.

Inside is a small piece of folded paper, lined, the sort you tear out of a composition book. Yaku can tell by the ragged edge. He opens it, and notes that the handwriting on the note isn’t nearly as careful as the large characters on the outside of the envelope.

> _Yaku-san –_
> 
> _I hope this letter isn’t weird! I think you would probably laugh at me if I told you this in person, but I like you a lot. Like a lot a lot! That kind of like. You don’t have to reply or anything. I don’t know how you would since you don’t know who I am. But I just wanted to tell you. Have a good day Yaku-san!_
> 
> _Your secret admirer_

A secret admirer. It seems cliché, like the sort of stuff you see in movies and shoujo romances and old sitcoms. Yaku wasn’t aware this type of thing actually occurred in real life. But he’s sitting here with a note that says “I like you a lot, Yaku-san” and signed “your secret admirer” and isn’t all this, well, a little too over the top? Someone could be playing a prank. In fact, that probably is what’s happening here. With a sigh, Yaku tucks the letter in his bag and takes out his notebook. He hasn’t got the time for silly fake love confessions.

He doesn’t think _that_ much about it for the rest of the day, but the letter sits there all the same, sort of burning a hole in his bag. It’s not that he’s _nervous_ about it or anything, it’s not like he _believes_ he has a secret admirer, but it sort of feels like an anomaly and he hasn’t yet told anyone and even though the physical proof is there, without telling someone it feels like he’s just imagining the whole thing. He needs some validation here, someone to laugh at the joke with.

After classes, he finds the tall, broad back of Kuroo, wandering through the halls towards the gym. He jogs between fellow students to catch up with him.

“Hey Kuroo, look at this thing I got,” Yaku says. As he strides up beside Kuroo, he passes over the open envelope with the letter inside. Kuroo flips the envelope over to read Yaku’s name on it, then slips the note out and unfolds it.

“He calls you ‘Yaku-san.’ I think some kouhai has a crush on you,” Kuroo says. His grin is broad and sly and knowing.

“’He’?” Yaku asks, thrown more off guard by this than the fact that an underclassman probably wrote the note.

“That’s a guy’s handwriting,” Kuroo says. “I’ve never seen a girl who writes like that. No wonder they’re afraid to confess in person! They might think you’d definitely reject them because they’re a guy. Not that you would, right? I wonder who it is?” Kuroo folds the note up again, but doesn’t place it back in the envelope.

_Not that you would, right?_ Well, who would know that better than Kuroo? He and Yaku had dated a while back, after all. They’d even gotten to some fooling around, before they decided I would be better going back to just being friends. Enough for Kuroo to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Yaku is not straight. No, Yaku wouldn’t reject whoever this is just by virtue of them being a guy and not a girl. He might reject them for this cheap stunt, though.

“A kouhai, huh?” Yaku says. “I have no idea who it could be. I don’t pay much attention to them.”

“They must know you, though. This has to be someone you’ve talked to before, at the very least.”

“Oh, I’m sure I’ve talked to plenty of them at some point or other, I just don’t remember. Anyway, you think this is the real deal? Not some stupid prank? It seems so cheesy.”

Kuroo considers for a moment, tapping the folded note against his fingers. “Hmm. Well, I don’t know why anyone would bother doing it as a joke. There are way better pranks to play. Trust me. No, I think whoever left it is serious, and also a little stupid. Or at the very least a hopeless romantic.”

“So, stupid, then.”

“Such a bleak view of humanity, _Yaku-san_.”

Yaku slams a fist into Kuroo’s bicep, a hit that leaves Kuroo rubbing his arm to soothe the pain afterwards.

***

Today is Wednesday, and there is another envelope on the desk.

It’s the same as the first, a white envelope, the short, fat, birthday card kind and not the legal-sized kind. The same overly-careful lettering of his name. There’s probably another sheet of folded lined paper in there, complete with another love note in the messy handwriting they’re trying to cover up when they write so carefully on the envelope. Yaku opens it with a grim set to his mouth.

> _Yaku-san,_
> 
> _Did you have a good day yesterday? I guess you don’t have to answer that since you sort of can’t because it’s not like you can send a letter back to someone whose name you don’t know. I wish you could though Yaku-san. I really like talking to you and I’d like to hear you say your day was good. But that’s okay! I hope you have another good day today Yaku-san. If you had a good day yesterday I mean. If you didn’t have a good day yesterday then I guess you should just have a super great day today to make up for it!_
> 
> _Your secret admirer_

This time, there’s a little heart near that signature. It’s a clumsy sort of heart, drawn by the sort of person who isn’t used to drawing hearts on things. Maybe Kuroo is right about it being a guy after all. At least a girl would know how to draw a proper heart, no matter what sort of person she was.

Yaku sighs and lays the note flat on his desk. He looks at it as if he were looking at a problem child, judging what to do about it.

“Is that a love note, Yaku-kun?” one of his classmates asks.

Yaku looks over at them, surprised at them taking notice. No point lying about it, he thinks, and Yaku frowns powerfully.

“Yes,” he says, eyes still fixed on the letter.

“Ooh, from who?”

“It’s – there’s no name. Secret admirer.”

“Oh, it’s like something out of a shoujo manga! So exciting!”

“Sure.”

So the first letter wasn’t some sort of fluke. Yaku wants to believe this is all a joke, but with a second letter – why would someone go that far? Kuroo had been right yesterday. This person was probably serious, and probably stupid.

And assuming it’s an underclassman, who could it be? The only underclassmen Yaku ever bothers with are the ones on the volleyball team, and it can’t be any of those guys. For a moment he has a vision of Kenma, writing a letter and furtively licking the glue of the envelope and placing it carefully on Yaku’s desk, and Yaku laughs to himself. Though maybe it would be funnier if it was Inuoka or something. Either way, it’s completely unthinkable, even as a prank.

Yaku forgets about the letter for the rest of the school day. At practice after classes, Yaku is once again in charge of drilling Lev on receives.

“How has your day been, Yaku-san?” Lev asks as he trots up to Yaku.

“It’s been fine,” Yaku says. For some reason he is reminded of the letter, and makes a mental note to talk to Kuroo about it again. He’ll like getting an update – he always does, when it comes to this sort of thing. He enjoys these situations, if only for the comedic value. “Look alive, Lev,” Yaku adds, and slams the volleyball in his hands in Lev’s direction. He watches Lev scramble to receive it – Lev catches it too far on the outside of his arm, sends the ball flying, and scrambles off to retrieve it.

Yaku sighs, and not just at Lev’s poor receiving. Who the hell could those letters be from, anyway?

***

It’s Thursday, and there’s something else on his desk this morning.

This time, it isn’t just a letter. There’s a small box, tied in a piece of fabric. Bento, without a doubt. Yaku picks up the letter, again addressed with his name, and opens it.

> _Yaku-san!_
> 
> _I made you lunch! I’m not a super good cook or anything, but I had my mom show me how to make some stuff. I hope you like it. I wish I could have given it to you in person or something but I’m still too shy you know! I’m not a shy person but I still think you would probably laugh at me Yaku-san! Not that I think you’re mean or anything. Though you can be sometimes. Most of the time I think you’re really nice. I guess that’s why I like you so much!_
> 
> _Your secret admirer_

…Now, that bit about Yaku being mean was just uncalled for. With an intense scowl he folds the note again and stuffs it back into its envelope. As for the bento, well… Yaku unwraps the small box, then removes its lid. The food in it is simple, a sizeable helping of rice and a serving of steamed broccoli and carrots and those little octopus hot dogs with smiling faces drawn in mustard. The octopus hot dogs are cute – Yaku has always had a soft spot for those. He wonders if Mr. Secret Admirer knew that somehow, or if it was a lucky guess.

He closes the box and wraps it back up, and stores it in his bag with the lunch he’d brought for himself. He’ll eat it for lunch, the bento from his secret admirer. It would be rude not to, probably. It was homemade, made with Yaku in mind specifically. All this love letter stuff was over the top and not to Yaku’s taste at all, but he’s _going_ to eat that bento, even though he already has his own lunch. Maybe he’ll just find Kenma and give him the lunch he’d packed for himself – God knows that kid could use a little more food, he eats like a bird.

Later, as he’s putting the last octopus hot dog in his mouth, Yaku thinks that despite the meal’s simplicity, it had been good. He almost wishes for another lunch tomorrow, if only so that he won’t have to pack his own.

***

Friday. Another day, another letter.

At least he won’t have to deal with these over the weekend, he thinks as he pries the envelope open. Probably.

> _Yaku-san!_
> 
> _I hope you liked the meal I made yesterday. I wanted to do it again today but I woke up late and I didn’t have time to cook. I still wanted to leave you a letter though. I wanted to say that I think it’s fine like this. If I keep writing letters instead of telling you in person then I can tell you how I feel without having to worry that you’ll laugh at me or not want to speak to me again. Seeing you is the best part of my day and I don’t want to mess that up! I mess up a lot of things but I won’t mess this up, okay Yaku-san!_
> 
> _Your secret admirer_

There’s a small drawing of a smiling cat in the space of the page that isn’t taken up by words. It’s not an expert drawing, but it’s sort of cute. Very much like the letters, Yaku supposes. He thought they were troublesome at first, but now… they’re cute. Any doubts Yaku had about their sincerity have completely fallen away. The earnestness is endearing, at least.

Yaku reads the letter twice more. _Seeing you is the best part of my day_. This has to be someone he sees every day, then, or at least most days. Really, the only underclassmen he sees regularly are the ones on the volleyball team, and he’s already established that as a ridiculous idea. Unless he’s barking up the wrong tree with the whole “underclassman” thing, and it’s just someone in his year. Maybe even in his class.

And anyway, what’s all this about messing a lot of stuff up? Yaku wonders what that could be referring to. Grades, maybe? Or perhaps he’s a clumsy person? Or maybe he just has bad luck?

Yaku sighs. He wishes he knew who was sending these things. He doesn’t really know what he’d do with that information, if he’d find them and confront them or if he’d just sit on the information or what, but he wants to know. Despite all his better judgment, despite still sort of thinking this is a prank, he wants to know.

***

Monday comes, and there’s no letter.

Yaku hates to admit it, but he’s a little disappointed. In spite of his misgivings about the person’s intentions and his own lack of faith in the concept of romance, Yaku had spent all weekend puzzling over who it could be. Well, it had probably been a prank after all. Any prankster would get bored writing these letters after a week, especially considering Yaku’s careful non-reaction. All the same, it’s sort of weird not having a letter this morning. It feels almost lonely.

Yaku tries all morning to squash that feeling of loneliness. It had only been a joke, after all. There was no reason to get worked up about the cessation of the letters. Yaku had let himself get sucked in too deep.

At lunch, he leaves the classroom to buy himself a drink to go with lunch. He catches sight of Lev rushing the other direction past him in the hallway, long strides taking him twice the distance Yaku could have covered in the same amount of time. Yaku waves to him and receives a brief, startled smile before Lev passes him. God only knows what that kid is doing. He probably forgot to turn in some assignment or something and is rushing to get it in.

When Yaku returns to his classroom with his bottle of soda, there’s something on his desk besides his lunch.

Another letter.

> _Yaku-san,_
> 
> _I slept in too late this morning so I couldn’t leave a letter on your desk. Sorry! But better late than never I guess! I missed seeing you over the weekend. I thought about what to write in a letter today but I couldn’t come up with anything really interesting. I had a fun weekend but I didn’t really do much! I hope your weekend was fun too Yaku-san! You’re very cool so I bet you did something cool._
> 
> _Your secret admirer_

Yaku turns to the person who sits in the desk to the left of him. “Yashida-kun, did you see who left this?”

“Huh?” Yashida says. He glances down at the envelope Yaku is brandishing. “Oh. I saw them, but I don’t know who it was, sorry, Yaku-kun. They were kind of tall, though.”

Tall? That’s not much to go on. _Everyone_ seems tall to Yaku, much as he hates to admit it. He sighs. He glares at the letter out of the corner of his eye as he eats his meal.

He can’t get these letters out of his head, hasn’t been able to for a week. Preoccupied by his thoughts, he takes so long getting changed into his volleyball uniform after classes that he and Lev are the only ones left in the locker room. Lev is always the last one out of the locker room. It’s a combination of arriving at practice a couple of minutes late and the fact that he always manages to put _something_ on backwards, no matter what, and has to fix it. It’s a testament to how distracted Yaku is that he’s stuck here with someone so notorious for being slow.

“Did you have a good weekend, Yaku-san?” Lev asks. “Did you do anything fun?”

Yaku freezes, halfway through tying his sneakers. That’s uncanny. It’s just what Yaku had been asked in that letter. He hasn’t told anyone what was in that letter, so there’s no way Lev could know. There’s no way. Unless.

As he stands, Yaku runs through what he knows about Mr. Secret Admirer. Tall, like his classmate had said. A guy, like Kuroo had said, and an underclassman. Someone he sees every day, not a shy person by his own account, someone brutally honest and who supposedly messes up a lot. Someone sweet and thoughtful who likes him (in his own words) _a lot_ a lot. Someone who cares about Yaku having a good day, a good weekend. It’s staring him in the face. Why had it taken so long to figure out?

“Lev,” Yaku says slowly, “did you write me those letters?”

“Ah – ” Lev says, caught completely off guard. He’s floundering, his face flushing and slouching so heavily with his head hung low that he’s only a couple inches taller than Yaku. “How did you figure it out?”

“Well, it was a lot of things, I guess,” Yaku admits. “Little things. So you did write them, then?”

“Yes.” Lev’s shoulders sag sadly. Yaku remembers all those times in the letters he said he was afraid of Yaku laughing at him, of Yaku not wanting to speak to him. Poor Lev, he must think all those fears are about to come to pass. “I messed up, didn’t I?”

“It’s – it’s okay, Lev,” Yaku says. “You didn’t mess up. I’m not going to laugh at you or something.”

“Really?” Lev says. His eyes are wide and puppy dog begging. “You don’t think I’m – silly, or stupid, or something? You don’t hate me?”

Yaku feels something inside himself break like the string of a guitar. He _had_ thought it was silly at first, thought it was stupid, thought it was a joke. But Lev really _meant_ everything in those letters. He was never anything but sincere. And the letters had been kind, sweet, and honest. Yaku had found himself liking them. He can’t deny that. He doesn’t hate Lev, not even a little bit. In fact, he thinks he likes Lev even more now, knowing those letters came from him.

“Of course not,” Yaku assures him. “In fact, maybe you should write me more letters, sometimes.”

“Yaku-san,” Lev says. He’s smiling, but the apprehensive, uncertain kind, eyes swimming with hope. God. He must _really_ like Yaku, if he’s acting like this.

“Lev,” Yaku says, “come here. Bend down.”

With a look of obvious confusion, Lev shuffles forwards and leans down so that he and Yaku are nearly eye to eye. With his heart pounding in his chest, Yaku leans forward and presses a kiss to Lev’s cheek. It’s light and tender and it lasts for only a second or two, but he hopes Lev understands what it means.

When Yaku pulls away, Lev leaps back in surprise. “Yaku-san!” he exclaims, face blushing bright red.

“That’s what you wanted, isn’t it, Lev?” Yaku says. “Something like that, anyway?”

Lev stands straight as an arrow and looking determined even through his nervous blushing. “Will you go to a movie with me Yaku-san!” Lev asks, voice at full volume in his nervousness.

“Okay,” Yaku says. “Yeah, I’ll go out with you, Lev. I’d be glad to.”


End file.
